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| Plaza Mayor of Madrid. |
Day 14 (Monday, April 6th 2009)
From Segovia I started my drive early up to Madrid.
I reached the city limits of Madrid without any problems. However, I had issues once I began driving within the city as I attempted to find the car rental agency which was supposed to be located next to the Atocha train station. Unfortunately, my navigation system didn't seem to understand the one way streets so needless to say, I got lost. After becoming extremely frustrated from having driven in circles several times, I eventually found the train station. Thankfully I also saw a gas station right across the street, all with about 15 minutes to spare before the agreed upon drop off time. Had I dropped off the rental car off after 12:30 I would have been charged an additional day’s rental cost, so it was absolutely imperative that I arrive prior to that time.
From the car rental agency, I walked downstairs to the train station and took the metro into the central Madrid neighborhood called Puerta del Sol.
I found Hostal Acapulco easily from the nearby metro stop Gran Via. The hostal was perfectly fine; my room was bright, clean, and had a balcony with a view over Plaza Carmen. The most interesting part of the hostal however was its really cool elevator that appeared to be at least 100 years old, but was actually only built in the 1960’s (according to a plaque on the inside of the elevator). The elevator looked like something you might see in an old building in New York or London; it was wrought iron black metal with a double door that I would have to shut after walking inside. Even though I probably should have taken the stairs more often, it was more fun instead to ride the elevator each time I left or came back to the hostel.
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| Hostel Acapulco |
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| Hostel Acapulco |
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| View from my room at Hostel Acapulco. |
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| Interesting elevator at Hostel Acapulco. |
After settling into my room, I headed out into the city in order to complete Rick Steves "Welcome to Madrid Walk." I was quite surprised with Madrid; I had heard some not so positive things about the city prior to my visit (i.e. concrete jungle, dirty, uninteresting). However, as I walked the streets of the city I found that I liked it more than I thought I would have. While it was obviously a huge and sprawling city, it had a lot of beautiful architecture and was relatively clean, given its size and large population of more than three million people. Apparently, the city had placed a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In an effort to win the bid, the city poured millions of dollars into massive city-improvement building projects and infrastructure.
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Museum of Ham in Madrid. |
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| Museum of Ham in Madrid. |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
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| Madrid |
During my walk, I stopped at Puerta del Sol and walked inside Salon La Mallorquina, which was a bakery. After eying the many racks of goodies, I purchased two and headed outside to enjoy them.
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| Salon La Mallorquina in Madrid. |
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| Pastry from Salon La Mallorquina in Madrid. |
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| Pastry from Salon La Mallorquina in Madrid. |
After completing the introductory walk of the city, my first major stop was the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) the official residence of the King of Spain. While the Royal Palace is considered the official residence, the royal family actually lives in the smaller Palacio de la Zarzuela, located on the outskirts of Madrid. Construction of the massive Royal Palace did not begin until the 18th century after a fortress on the same sight had burned down in 1734. King Phillip V ordered the building of the palace to be built on the same grandeur level of Versailles (Phillip was the grandson of the famous French King Louis XIV and preferred speaking French). Construction of the 2,000 room palace took 17 years and was finally finished in 1755.
I opted to pay for the regular 8 Euro entrance fee instead of 10 Euro for a guided tour as Rick Steves had a somewhat detailed tour described in his guidebook. The interior of the palace was beautiful and reminded me very much of Versailles and Schonbrunn, but I was unfortunately unable to take photos. I walked through the royal state rooms relatively quickly, especially because several of the rooms including the Royal Chapel, were closed for restoration. Afterward, I hurried outside as the sun was finally coming out and I wanted to get some great shots of the giant courtyard.
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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| Royal Palace of Madrid. |
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